


Life On the Run

by lovelyavengers (fandomsandxfiles)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene, On the Run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsandxfiles/pseuds/lovelyavengers
Summary: What might have happened after Steve Rogers broke his team out of The Raft.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 4
Collections: Fandom Giftbox 2020





	Life On the Run

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Katarina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katarina/gifts).



> Written for the Fandom Giftbox Exchange 2020. 
> 
> hope you like it!!

No one spoke as the shape of The Raft got smaller and smaller on the horizon. The darkness of the night soon took over, and the only brightness came from the small lights of the ship. It was barely enough to keep them on the right path, but what little luck the group had left managed to get them to shore safely. 

That's where they were now, sitting in silence in a dingy motel room, listening to the sounds of the thunderstorm that knocked out the power of the entire town. Steve managed to scrounge up a few emergency candles and lit them with the one match left in the bathroom cupboard, but other than that, the room was dark. 

What were they going to do now? The whole world was looking for the six of them, not to mention that Secretary Ross was definitely out for blood. 

They would have to adapt to their new lives now, live as nothing more than shadows of faces, whispers of names. They would need to almost constantly be on the move until they could find a place to stay permanently, and Steve didn't have high hopes for that. 

He turned back from looking out the window and looked at the team, dozing in uncomfortable positions on the various surfaces of the room. Wanda was still shaking from her experiences at The Raft, and she wouldn't let anyone near her. Steve's heart broke for her as she shivered on one of the two beds, under the threadbare blanket they had found in the closet. 

Trying to make himself comfortable on the armchair, Steve finally fell asleep, knowing that he had to help his friends. They had risked so much for him, and now it was his responsibility to make sure that their lives weren't filled with misery, even if they were on the run. 

***

They never stayed in one place for longer than a few nights, just enough time for everyone to recover from traveling, then it was right back on the road again. They made it all the way into Pennsylvania like that, staying in seedy motels and driving stolen cars. 

Until they found the warehouse. It was clearly a condemned storage facility, with floors of storage units, doors all open, and some people had barely bothered to clean out their things. It was on the outskirts of a town in the middle of nowhere. "We'll stay here for a few days," Steve decided as he looked at the ragtag bunch. "Then we'll decide how to proceed." 

Everyone else nodded and broke off to search through the facility, try to find supplies and things they could use. Steve poked around one storage unit and collected a few quilts and pillows. He hoped to god there were some mattresses somewhere in the building, because although they were wanted by the government, they had at least been able to stay in places with beds when they weren't on the road. Just as he about to leave the unit, something peeked out from a corner that caught Steve's eye. He walked over and removed the sheet of plastic covering the object, to reveal an old record player, with a small stack of records right next to it. Steve flipped through the records, and while he didn't recognize most of the names, some of artists and titles he did know. The player itself was small enough for Steve to pick it up and move it out of the storage unit, along with the stack of records. 

They decided to all stay in two adjacent empty units, and thankfully with all of the people who never came to claim their stuff, there were enough mattresses for everyone, even if they weren't really that comfortable. After they set up everything as best they could, Steve broke out the record player. When Bucky caught sight of it, he smiled for the first time in who knows how long. "Is there any music?" he asked softly. 

"Yeah, and some stuff we actually know," Steve said as he brought out the stack of records. Bucky looked through the small pile, and eventually decided on one. He slowly placed the record on the turntable and soon the smooth sounds of Glenn Miller filled the space. He had a sad smile on his face. "It brings back memories," he said, and Steve could see the beginnings of a tear in his eyes. "Good ones." 

***

So the old storage facility became their new home. It was the first place that they had stayed for longer than two nights, and the building was far enough away from others that it might be the safest place for all of them. 

After the first night, the record player was almost never off. Bucky loved listening to it, whether he knew the song or not. It found a permanent home next to Bucky's mattress, and it became a ray of hope in the lives of everyone. Bucky slowly became more comfortable with everyone and began to talk more, sharing stories of his and Steve's childhood adventures, much to Steve's chagrin. Bucky began to smile and laugh with Sam, Clint, and Scott more as well, which added to Steve's hope that everything was going to be okay. Everyone became a little more comfortable with each other, thanks to that record player. 

But the music had a special effect on Wanda as well. She was still scarred by what she experienced at The Raft, but she was able to come out of her shell a little. Maybe it was because she already had an emotional bond with Steve, Clint, and Sam from working together before the Accords, and Scott was slowly winning her over with arguably terrible dad jokes. Her and Bucky kept their distance from one another, but at the same time they both understood what the other would have gone through, better than anyone else there. 

"Would you teach me how to swing dance?" Wanda tentatively asked Steve one night as they all sat in the light of various electric lanterns. 

"I was a horrible dancer," Steve said in response. "I think you would have better luck with Bucky as a teacher." 

"I don't even think I even know how to dance anymore," Bucky said as Wanda turned to him. 

"Please?" she asked him softly. 

"Alright," he agreed, before selecting a record of a song he actually knew and placing it on the turntable. Bright, jazzy music filled the air as he stood up. His dancing was tentative at first, but he soon gained more confidence as he realized that for him, dancing was an ingrained skill and he hadn't lost it over the years. 

After a few more songs, Wanda was laughing with him as they spun and danced through the empty storage unit, the rest of the team laughing at them from the sidelines. They finally stopped when Wanda was panting slightly, but Bucky showed no sign of fatigue. He gave the small group the biggest smile anyone had ever seen as he sat back down. "What was it like Buck?" Steve asked. "To dance again?" 

"It felt like home."

_\- the end -_


End file.
